CAdreaming

hi folks
this is probably a bit of an odd question - I've searched and can't find an answer so thought I would ask you good people who have experienced this for a bit of info

Im arriving on a K1 - I will have a couple of suitcases (I travel light that's all Im taking!) One of the cases however will have my wedding outfit

I understand that I will be taken away for interview/processing and this could take some time ( I arrive at SanFran)...my question is "what happens to my luggage"? Is it just left to go round and round on the carousel?

Can I collect it before I go off for my interview (long shot I know!)

I dont want someone walking off with my case ---or my wedding outfit if im in secondary for a long time...

steve100100

No you can't collect it first. I honestly don't remember but I think my bag was standing on the floor by the time I got out of secondary. I came in on k1.

Honestly, don't worry, someone will reply with more detail soon.

EJ3

Hi,

I just wanted to add my experience. When I moved to the USA on a K1 two years ago I actually took one suitcase and carried my wedding dress on the plane as hand luggage. I had it in a large zip up cover given to me by the bridal shop. Security was not a problem (it just went through the scanning machine as normal) and when I boarded my British Airways flight, the stewards put it in a closet towards the back of the plane which was extremely helpful. I also took it on a much smaller plane for a connecting flight and once again the flight attendants put it safely in a little cupboard. When I arrived at Immigration I carried it straight through without question, although I didn't get taken to secondary so I cannot give you my experience from that perspective.

Carrying it on board just gave me more reassurance. My wedding dress was fairly heavy but in terms of the flight and security, I did not encounter any problems.

ian-mstm

FedEx it ahead of time.

Ian

meauxna

CAD, SFO airport has a dedicated desk in the arrival hall for immigrant and K check in. It normally does not take very long there.
You won't be called away to secondary; your experience might be like ours. We were done before our luggage came out.

Don't worry on that one; it will still be going 'round the belt I expect.
They have security guards here you know. No one will walk off with your bags.. I guess you're driving home from there, so no need to re-check your bags, right?

Noorah101

In our K-1 experience coming through JFK, we could only take our carry-ons with us through the immigration line. After the trip to secondary, our checked luggage was waiting for us on the other side, where we had to then go through customs.

Rene

randomgirl

When I arrived on my K-1 in September of last year (at Philadelphia) I waited in secondary for almost an hour. I asked one of the staff in there about my luggage and they said it would be fine. When I got out of secondary it was waiting for me on the floor by the carousel - so even though it was there a while everything was fine! I also had my wedding dress in one of my cases, and only took 2 suitcases with me.

Also from what Meaxuna says, it sounds like SF has a better set-up so you'll probably be through a lot quicker!

Good luck with the big move!

Moonshadow_Girl

DH arrived in SFO on a K-1 in 2008. SFO has a dedicated queue/desk for new immigrants (they still had it when we came through in December). You must do that first, just like you would do any passport control. We literally walked right up to the desk and less than 10 minutes later were on our way to pick up our luggage. Luggage hadn't even started dispersing yet by the time we got there.

Good luck, hope you have great weather coming in.

CAdreaming

thank you all for taking the time to reply - much appreciated! Like anything if you haven't done it before it all seems a mystery but once I'm actually standing outside of the airport at SFO I will realise that it wasnt so difficult after all!!

I'm having a very small wedding so I haven't got a "traditional" outfit but will bear in mind carrying it on (it's not a long dress)

Im flyng Virgin and they suggest putting it in a hard case and asking at check in for it to be marked fragile so I might do that - or I might as Ian suggested get it sent ahead - so many decisions, so little time

Thank you for explaining the process for arrival at SFO - I imagined I would be carted off to a room and kept for hours

Driving back from SF to Eureka (actually that should be "driving HOME to Eureka"
Once again thank you all for your input support and time

traceym

Heres a link to my thread point of entry SFO, I beat most of the upper class people through, they are very quick, hope it helps and of course you'll know what the black rubber gloves are for .

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...hlight=traceym

CAdreaming

Wow great read thank you! I shall look out for the black rubber gloves- O I hope I see them!!!! One thing has worried me a bit tho....(on top of my millions of other worries such as do you give wedding favours to female guests and will I manage to loose about 3 stone in 3 weeks )

Tracy you wrote
Check in was the first hurdle, you are only allowed to visit the USA for 90 days, unless you have a Visa, the lady on the desk asked to see our return ticket which is for December and stated that our Visa’s expire in July, so we could not fly. I patiently explained that the Visa in the Passport is a temporary one issued for entry only, as when we arrive in the USA we are issued with Green cards

I've booked a return flight for Nov - when I get my AP I will change my flight accordingly. The return for Nov is obviously after 90 days - do you think there will be an issue with this? I am getting married 10 days after I arrive?

many thanks!!

randomgirl

My return ticket is for July (won't be using it!) and I travelled in September - it was never even mentioned. I doubt it will be an issue but if they do ask about it you can tell them the K-1 is a fiancée visa with immigrant intent, and once you marry you will be filing for AOS completely legally.

CAdreaming

Fab thank you!!!

randomgirl

No worries!

When are you travelling? Hope everything goes really well for you!

CAdreaming

Thank you so much!! I leave on 16th March